Another Reason To Worry About Facebook Privacy: Alimony

The negative consequences of posting too much private information on social networks are pretty well known, from identity thieves stealing your info to burglars invading your home after you post real-time photos from your vacation in Mexico. And then you've got angry ex's to worry about. Facebook and Flickr photos are ending up as evidence in divorce settlements. From The Record:

Orlando lawyer Diana Tennis remembered a case in which her client was fighting for more time with his child. Tennis came across a Facebook picture of the opposing parent's new boyfriend proudly posing with a gun he'd just purchased...

Judge Lisa Munyon said she has seen some Facebook pages presented in court, but "it's not an overwhelming number."

She mentioned one case in which a lawyer submitted a father's Facebook page, showing how he bragged about how much money he made. The lawyer used this to help prove he earned more money than he admitted in court.

Earlier this year, the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers released a survey of divorce attorneys and found 81 per cent reported an increase in using social- networking evidence in the past five years.

As a happily married dude, I can't really advise on what not to do after it's all gone to hell. But then, I imagine a lot of these incriminating images get taken while the relationship still seems to be rock-solid... right before it goes off the cliff. So think about whether you really need to whip out your iPhone when your mom hires a stripper to provide entertainment at your kid's first birthday party.

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Jonathon Narvey

Jonathon Narvey is a Vancouver-based freelance journalist, website copywriter and author. He is the founder of WRITEIMAGE, a website copywriting services company.
Jonathon grew up in Winnipeg, Canada. While he remains proud of his prairie roots, he moved to the west coast of Canada soon after beginning a career as a writer. Mostly, he writes about politics, current events and life in...
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